In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce yet another "independent journalist". She's an American Canadian conspiracy theorist and propagandist, Eva Bartlett. Eva is part of the "may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of the Russian government" gang.
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Like so many of these so-called journalists, she started as a Palestine activists, and she was a campaigner for the International Solidarity Movement. Bartlett visited Gaza several times, reported about the situation there in her blog.
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She also did speaking tours around North America. Eventually she moved on to Syrian civil war.
These days Bartlett is very much in the same group of al-Assad and Putin apologists as the Grayzone blogger Max Blumenthal, Sonja van den Ende and Vanessa Beeley.
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She is one of the most popular propagandists of this group, and her videos have been viewed millions of times. Bartlett rose to notoriety in 2016, when she was doing some Russia and Syria sponsored reporting from Syria. She stated in a video that there's "overwhelming ...
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...support" for president al-Assad in Syria, and that the rescue organization White Helmets was Western propaganda and that "no one in eastern Aleppo has heard of them". She accused the NGO of recycling actors and footage.Ironically she's done this exact thing in her reports.5/10
In the same footage she suggested that the al-Quds hospital bombing was propaganda and never occurred. This message was of course spread by RT and Sputnik. Syrian government also staged a discussion between Bartlett and the UN.
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All of these statements were naturally lies and were debunked by several outlets. For example, the advocacy group The Syria Campaign and the US-based think tank Atlantic Council have debunked many of Bartlett's lies about the White Helmets.
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As history has shown, these "independent journalists" often support most totalitarian regimes around the world: in 2017 Eva visited North Korea, and suggested that most of the misery and poverty in there are a result of American imperialism.
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Since Apr, 2022, Bartlett has been reporting on Ukraine, sometimes selling her coverage of the events to RT. In Jul, 2022, she was one the speakers at the International Public Tribunal on Ukraine, a propaganda event to for defaming Ukraine and Ukrainians.
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Eva Bartlett has lived in Russia since 2019. She has 48k followers on Youtube and almost 130k followers on Twitter, which makes her a relatively popular pro-Russian propagandist.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll explain the context of the upcoming Budapest Blunder, and how it follows the infamous Alaska Fiasco from two months ago and Trump’s absurd delaying of serious aid to Ukraine and effective sanctions on Russia for the past nine months.
1/20
Two months ago, Trump embarrassed the United States by rolling out the red carpet for war criminal dictator Putin and overall acting like a pathetic servant eager to meet his master. Of course, the Alaska Fiasco didn’t bring peace any closer.
Worse, the main outcome of the humiliation was to delay serious sanctions, which the US Congress, in rare bipartisan unity against Russia, was on the verge of passing. Two weeks by two weeks, Trump Always Chickens Out, postponing any real pressure on Putin for 9 months now.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American propagandist Alexandra Jost, aka “Sasha” (@sashameetsrus). She’s best known for being paid by the Russian state to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda — and for doing it with a big smile.
1/23
Alexandra, now 26, was born in Hong Kong. Her father is from Texas, and her mother is from Siberia. According to her, she has “dreamed of living in Russia since childhood.” Sasha's mother runs a dance studio in Moscow and her younger brother is avoiding mobilization.
2/23
Since the beginning of her creator career, Sasha has been adamant about one thing: that she’s “never had to be paid” to speak of her “love” for Russia. But, as always with Russia, this turned out to be nothing but vranyo — a Russian “tactical lie.”
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll reintroduce an American political commentator and pro-Kremlin propagandist, Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson). He’s best known for his promotion of crazy conspiracy theories and for his support of authoritarian regimes around the world.
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Tucker’s career spans decades, but he’s also been very active in recent years, so a lot has happened since our previous soup on him, which can be found here:
Once described as “the most powerful conservative in America”, Tucker has now fully transformed into a grifting conspiracy theorist and propagandist willing to work for whoever pays him the most. It’s unclear whether Tucker truly believes his endless conspiracy theories or…
3/24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
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But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.